Congratulations Cultivatd! – Indoor Farm Brokerage Startup Raises $3 Million Series A Round

A huge congratulations to Cultivatd on the closing of a Series A round of investment of $3M USD led by Malcolm Bean of Resilient Earth Ventures (REV) Fund, a California-based firm focused on climate smart solutions and food security projects. 

The funds will primarily be used to fuel Cultivatd’s expansion plans with new offices coming to Austin Texas, Dubai UAE and Perth Australia in 2022.

Cultivatd Inc, a Cornwall Ontario based indoor farm brokerage, was founded in 2020 by the company’s Managing Partners, Eric Levesque and Eric Bergeron, who are industry veterans and have been involved in Agtech for years. It is a startup that helps clients get into the vertical farming space by guiding them through the process of selecting the best technology for their needs, and recommends the best solution depending on budget, type of growing, location and knowledge. The company are primarily a brokerage but they offer additional services such as Farming-as-a-Service, where they deploy farmers to your location, and general consulting services through a network of vertical farming experts throughout the world.

Cultivatd has secured over 40 partnerships with some of the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry’s biggest technology providers such as IGS, Elevate Farms, Artechno, Cubic Farms, AmplifiedAg, Netled, RotoGro, and Delta9 in the past year, and intends to continue to expand its roster of partners over the coming year. The company currently has over $250 Million in active projects in it’s portfolio and expects that number to increase substantially in 2022.

Resilient Earth Ventures (REV) is a fund that accelerates sustainable energy and food systems in islands and remote communities. Managed by partners Malcolm Bean and Mark Higgins, the mission is to accelerate clean, sustainable, resilient energy and food. REV does this by investing risk capital in project developers, projects and technologies that can address the unique challenges of islands and remote communities. We’re unique because we’re willing to take carefully considered business model, market and technology risks.

Eric Levesque, Managing Partner and co-founder of Cultivatd, says:

These funds will allow us to service our growing list of clients, partners and projects and will help us get right into the middle of the CEA industry…We did not anticipate the market would be this open to our service offering and we have now raised a seed round and a Series A in the same year to expedite that growth.

Eric Bergeron, Cultivatd’s other co-founder and an AgTech industry veteran since 2014, added:

The industry is growing quickly and more and more people need a better understanding of which technology provider is best for their project. It’s a massive capital commitment to open a vertical farm and we provide the expertise to help with planning and technology selection on behalf of our partners.

Malcolm Bean, Principal at REV Fund who will also hold a Board Seat at Cultivatd and help with strategy and growth, says:

This investment is strategic in that it allows our fund access to the projects Cultivatd is brokering, helping speed up the process of their clients completing their vertical farming projects. We are very excited to see where this company is headed and to be part of it.

Cultivatd intends to hire a few more staff to fill some major roles but is planning on staying lean – focusing instead on marketing and sponsorship opportunities to grow the brand into the $50 Billion dollar vertical farming equipment market.